Villas-Boas to be handed £20m to pursue Willian, Moutinho, Dzagoev or Eriksen in January

Andre Villas-Boas will be handed £20million to revive Tottenham's faltering Champions League ambitions.

Spurs have lost four of their last five Premier League games, a sequence that has cast serious doubt over their top four chances.

But chairman Daniel Levy will make significant funds available in the January transfer window, knowing the current squad needs strengthening.

Wanted man: Shakhtar's Willian is top of Andre Villas-Boas' hitlist

Villas-Boas wants to sign a left-back, central attacking midfielder and a striker at the turn of the year, with Willian, Miralem Pjanic, Christian Eriksen, Alex Dzagoev and Joao Moutinho all on the hitlist.

Tottenham's chosen agents have already begun work on trying to lure the club's top targets to London.

Levy's decision to give Villas-Boas money to spend in January will come as a major boost to the Portuguese who is starting to come under pressure due to his side's sorry run.

Meanwhile, Tottenham will revive their attempts to sell defender Michael Dawson in January.

Villas-Boas tried to offload the defender during the summer transfer window, but moves to Stoke and Queens Park Rangers failed to materialise.

Not bad either: Porto's Joao Moutinho is also being mooted

Gift: The Tottenham manager has been handed £20million to pursue his targets